I Chronicles 14:1 "Now HIram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and timber of cedars, with masons and carpenters, to build him an house."

In Ezekiel 28, Satan is addressed as the "king of Tyrus, or Tyre", Tyre is the land of the Kenites, the children of Satan through Eve, from in the Garden of Eden. The word "Kenite" means the "sons of Cain", the first born. I point this out only for the sake of drawing attention that we are speaking of Kenites here, Hiram is the king of the Kenites at the time of David. Remember that in I Chronicles 2:55, the scribes that are writing this book have let us known that they now [about 400 B.C.] have control of the temple and all the duties of the scribes, or records keeping. However back in David's day, the Kenites had entered into an agreement to build the house of David. We also know that the Kenites did some service in the temple, such as wood cutting, as early as Solomon's time.

I Chronicles 14:2 "And David preceived that the Lord had confirmed him king over Israel, for his kingdom was lifted up on high, because of His People Israel."

Of course David preceived that the Lord had confirmed him king over Israel, and that assurance came from the fact that Samuel, the prophet of God, selected and sought out David as a boy, and anointed him king over Israel. David would play that role of king at Saul's death. David's family witnessed it, and Samuel told the people what he had done. This fact then was no secret, and all the people knew it. That was the reason that Saul sought to take the life of David, and continued to hunt him down. However David also knew that Saul was also God's anointed, and that is why David had the respect for Saul, even when Saul was trying to kill him.

I Chronicles 14:3 "And David took more wives at Jerusalem: and David begat more sons and daughters.."

As king, David had many wives, and a lot of kids, however Solomon was selected by God to follow David to the throne, and at Solomon's death, the kingdom would be split into two separate nations. Each of these nations had their own kingdom, and king ruling over them. David's seed would follow as the kings over Judah, and the house of Israel would select their own kings to reside over them. It would not be until the fall of Jerusalem by Babylon, that Jeremiah would take the daughters of king Zedekiah for the removal of the kingship to Ireland, then to Scotland, and on to Great Britain, where the kingship has and will remain until the coming of the Lord, to sit over all of God's people from then on.

I Chronicles 14:4 "Now these are the names of his children which he had in Jerusalem; Shammua, and Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon,"

I Chronicles 14:5 "And Ibhar, and Elishua, and Elpalet,"

I Chronicles 14:6 "And Nogah, and Nepheg, and Japhia,"

I Chronicles 14:7 "And Elishama, and Beeliada, and Eliphalet."

I Chronicles 14:8 "And when the Philistines heard that David was anointed king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up to seek David. And David heard of it, and went out against them."

When the Philistines heard that David was made king over all Israel, they went to "seek" his life. "Seek" as used here is "Bakkesh, in the Hebrew tongue, meaning "to seek for blood" or the life of David. By this time, the Philistines knew what David and his men had done, after the Philistines refuse to allow him to go into battle against Saul with them.

I Chronicles 14:9 "And the Philistines came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim."

The "Rephaim", in the Hebrew "Rapha"; was one of the greatest of the Nephilim, the fallen angels that came earth and bred with women. These "Nephilim" and their families lived in this valley before the Israelites moved in to take over the land of Canaan.

Joshua 15:8 "And the border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom unto the south side of the Jebusite; the same is Jerusalem: and the border went up to the top of the mountain that lieth before the valley of Hinnom westward, which is at the end of the valley of the giants northwards:"

Some codices, with three early printed editions, read; "the sons of Hinnom"; these lived in "the valley of the Rephiam", or giants. These giants were of the lineage of the fallen angels, of the second influx upon the earth.

I Chronicles 14:10 "And David enquired of God, saying, "Shall I go up against the Philistines? and wilt Thou deliver them into mine hand?" And the Lord said unto him, "Go up; for I will deliver them into thine hand."

We read of this in II Samuel 5:19 "And David enquired of the Lord, saying, "Shall I go up to the Philistines? wilt Thou deliver them into mine hand?" And the Lord said unto David, "Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand."

David was facing an enemy that wanted to destroy him; and this is another lesson for us to apply in our own lives. For when the enemy appears to be strong, and they appear to be giants and to much for us to handle, that is the time to seek our direction from the Lord God. David went to the Lord and sought direction for what he should do in this case. The two things that David wanted to know was, first, should I go to war with these Philistines, and secondly, are you going to deliver them into my hands. The Lord gave His assurance that the victory was going to be his.

Today when there is a battle among Christian nations, Christians like to charge into those times of trouble without the Lord God, and then they like to accuse God for their own stupid mistakes and blunders. They may have the best of excuses and intentions, but if they do it without asking God's blessings on the matter, don't blame God for your mistakes when things go bad. When you know God's overall plan, you may be going against His plan and thus the answer would be no.

I Chronicles 14:11 "So they came up to Baal-perazim; and David smote them there, Then David said, "God hath broken in upon mine enemies by mine hand like the breaking forth of waters:"

"Baal-perazim" means the "lord of division". The lord of division is not our Lord, and when David met them in the valley, God gave the enemy into David's hand. The Lord God Almighty caused a division in their camp to where they could not come against David. God sent division amongst the Philistines, and that trouble caused confusion in the Philistine camp.

I Chronicles 14:12 "And when they had left their gods there, David gave a command-ment, and they were burned with fire."

David and his men took all the false idols and images of heathen worship that the Philistines left behind, and they burned them. This is also what should happen to the traditions of men today, for they are the images of idolatry that comes between God and man. There is no room in God's Word or for His people for traditions that go against, and are in contrary to His Word. When you set up traditions within your church houses, they themselves bring division amongst God's people.

I Chronicles 14:13 "And the Philistines yet again spread themselves abroad in the valley [of Raphiam]."

The Philistines just never gave in and they came back to the valley of Raphiam to battle David again. Sure God gave the victory to David in the first battle, and now in the second battle, David will go again to enquire what the Lord would have him do.

I Chronicles 14:14 "Therefore David enquired again of God; and God said unto him, "Go not up after them; turn away from them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees."

For this battle God informed David not to go into battle, as he did the first time, but "Thou shalt not go up; but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees." This time God instructed David and his men to circle around the Philistines and approach them from the rear. There was a forest of Mulberry trees behind the Philistines, and David and his men were to stay in the trees and wait. There was a reason for this wait, for God is going to have the victory here, and allow David to watch as the victory is handed to him.

I Chronicles 14:15 "And it shall be, when thou shalt hear a sound of going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt go out to battle: for God is gone forth before thee to smite the host of the Philistines."

God told David that when you hear the sound of a great army coming over the trees, then you follow that sound into battle against the Philistines. The very sound of God's army strikes fear into the hearts and minds of the enemy of God. This strikes such fear in their minds that they turn on each other. God has a way of handling material things through Spiritual means.

God never changes, and He never will. Just as He fought battles in David's day, He will go before us in our battles in our lives today. However, when we make our request known to God, there are conditions that we must follow. You might call them the "if's" of prayer for the conditions to be met in God's answering of our prayers. God's army did the work to bring about the victory, and David's army came in under the instruction by YHVH our heavenly Father, and David's army received the credit for the victory. When God leads you after your prayer, it is important to follow the instructions that God gives you through His Word, by His Spirit.

I Chronicles 14:16 "David therefore did as God commanded him: and they smote the host of the Philistines from Gibeon even to Gazer."

As the army of God rousted the Philistine army, they scattered and David chased and fought them for about thirty five miles. The Philistine army left behind all their idols, and images, and David and his men gathered them up and destroyed those heathen gods and idols. God had a surprise for the Philistines after then lost the first battle and came back for the second. God struck them with terror that ran through their camp and created nothing but confusion.

God chose the line of attack, and He did not want David and his army in the way. God's Spirit gave the unction to David to do what he had to do, and that was to follow God's orders. Remember, when Jesus Christ returns to set up his kingdom, He will also bring with him a large army that will defeat the devil and strike terror in the forces on earth, and that battle will be over instantly.

I Chronicles 14:17 "And the fame of David went out into all lands; and the Lord brought the fear of him upon all nations."

When David man the stand and followed the Lord's instruction in this matter of war, not only were the Philistines terrorized, but all the nations that heard of the victory had respect and fear of David. God fought the battle when David confided in Him for the instruction. Then at the end of the battle, God allowed David and His people to take all the credit for the win, for the sake of their own protection in future times.